Would you survive a crisis in the wild?

Updated 11:20 pm, Saturday, July 6, 2013

Many people who have ventured into a rushing Merced River above Vernal Fall have wound up being washed over the brink to a 300-foot fall and death.

Many people who have ventured into a rushing Merced River above Vernal Fall have wound up being washed over the brink to a 300-foot fall and death.

Would you survive a crisis in the wild?

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First, a quiz:

1. If you were swimming in the pool above 317-foot Vernal Fall in Yosemite, got too deep, slipped in the current and then were carried over the brink, in the next five seconds, would you live or die?

2. If you were riding a road bike on a two-laner in the Bay Area foothills, and then were nearly clipped by a BMW at high speed and found yourself "riding the tight rope" on the edge of pavement and the road's shoulder that plunged into a canyon, in the next five seconds, would you ride ahead without incident, or plummet head-over-heels into the canyon?

3. On a dark night in Africa, if you shined your flashlight and spotted a 350-pound lion at 100 yards in a full-on attack charge at 45 mph - and someone handed you a rifle - in the next five seconds, who would go down? You or the lion?

What you find in the outdoors are periods of fun, zest, and physical or technical challenges interspersed by the rare moment of terror. Two people, side-by-side, faced with the same encounter, can have opposite outcomes.

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In my job, one of the saddest things is that almost every death or catastrophe from an outdoors incident is reported to me. The common theme, over and over, is a person with a lack of training and outdoor knowledge, a mistake that leads to a challenge and, ultimately, devastating consequences. It breaks my heart every time.

On Fourth of July weekend, more of these tragedies are likely to occur in the Bay Area and Northern California.

You might ask, "How can they be avoided?"

The answer is not more rules, signs or restrictions.

The answer is better outdoor education for young people, and then as they become adults, for each to take responsibility for his or her safety.

For many youth, and often for their parents as well, the lack of skills is a problem. It used to be you learned how to camp and stay safe, or apply first aid and ethics from your family, the Army, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or community groups. That often seems lost these days and hasn't been replaced by anything.

It explains the answers to the three questions.

Every year, about a million people take the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall in Yosemite Valley. It starts as an easy hike on a paved trail, then climbs 500 feet to the wood bridge below the fall. Many then climb another 500 feet up the granite steps, so close to the waterfall that you often can feel the spray.

On a hot day, that feels so good, that after topping the brink, they will dunk their feet in the Merced River. Some will wade out a bit. Others yet will wade or swim across, or try floating around. On one trip, I saw three kids from Los Angeles doing this, and when I yelled and begged them to get back to the shallows, they gave me the finger.

In the past 10 years, 14 people, by best estimates, have gone over the top of Vernal Fall. None survived.

If you took the quiz, you probably got that one right.

Question 2 might be more of a challenge.

On a bike, whether mountain biking or on the road, sooner or later you will face do-or-die moments. I call it "riding the tight rope," where you are inches away from falling off the road's shoulder, hitting an obstacle or riding without incident.

A motorcycle safety study showed in these moments, riders have 3.5 seconds to do the right thing. Yet riders often freeze and plow straight into an accident, often where no one else is involved. In other cases, they stare straight at the "trouble," and in turn, drive right into it.

Riding courses teach you to overcome a crisis moment by envisioning a line ahead of you that is exactly where you need to ride to escape the hazard. You then focus on that line. That's how you stay safe.

We do the same thing climbing mountains and pinnacles, kayaking, rafting and canoeing. Before we enter a stretch that might be hazardous, the first question is, "What's the best line?"

Question 3 might not involve a situation you'll face this weekend - being charged at night by a lion - but it goes to the theme of a bigger answer.

At Gunsite, a firearms-training academy in Arizona, this exact scenario was my final exam: a lion charging at 100 yards at night. To pass the test (and therefore live), you had to put three shots in five seconds in a pie plate located on a silhouette of a lion target. The target would rotate toward you, controlled electronically by remote control, then after five seconds, time's up, rotate away.

On the first day of class, in broad daylight, nobody passed this test, even police officers there to hone their skills. On the last day, we all passed, with .308 rifles, forward-mounted scopes, and mini Surefire lights mounted on the rifles to light the night.

So the answer to Question 3 is without training, the lion would get you. If you had the training, though, you would get the lion.

The answer is the same for all outdoors activities. With training and education, you can take part in your activities of choice, and no matter what you confront, be safe and have the time of your life.

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